LATEST UPDATES

Plot of the month for February 2018 is from the PRIMAVERA project as part of its user engagement activities, which explores the role atmospheric blocking plays in European weather and its effect on the energy sector.

Instead of the large-scale westerly flow that is typical of the North Atlantic, with the passage of low- and high-pressure systems and their associated cold and warm fronts, mid-latitude atmospheric blocking appears as large, quasi-stationary high-pressure systems (anti-cyclones). Atmospheric blocking is a stable atmospheric circulation that yields persistent weather over large regions for weeks to months.

Plot of the month for January 2018 is from Alexander Baker, who asks: how many wintertime heavy precipitation events can be attributed to extratropical cyclones?

Using ERA-Interim reanalysis data for the period 1979-2016, the number of heavy precipitation events coinciding with cyclones was quantified for the Northern Hemisphere, following a published method by Pfahl and Wernli (2012).

Plot of the month for December 2017 is an update on publications by HRCM members for 2017 across the different projects with which we are involved.

UPSCALE publications continue, with further papers to be submitted in early 2018. UJCC publications are declining as these research activities are concluded, with efforts turning to PRIMAVERA and U.S. CLIVAR research.

Plot of the month (November 2017) is from the PRIMAVERA project and shows how extratropical storms are represented in a high-resolution, 25 km global climate model.

Following on from previous posts, the figure below shows in detail how winds and precipitation, particularly along the trailing front and the maximum over France, are represented more realistically in a 25 km global model.

Plot of the month for October 2017 is from the PRIMAVERA project as part of its user engagement activities, which explains the need for high-resolution modelling to understand post-tropical cyclones that affect Europe.